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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25813009">Out of Touch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polygonia/pseuds/Polygonia'>Polygonia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Diego Hargreeves-centric, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Head Injury, Hurt Diego Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Recovery, Rescue Missions, Stuttering Diego Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:57:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,783</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25813009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polygonia/pseuds/Polygonia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Diego is the last of the Hargreeves to be found in 1963.  </p>
<p>Turns out, being rescued from an insane asylum is not an ideal way to be reunited with your dysfunctional family.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allison Hargreeves &amp; Diego Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; Luther Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; The Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy &amp; Diego Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>356</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi everyone! Long time lurker first time poster here. I have no beta so I take responsibility for all spelling and grammar errors. </p>
<p>I really enjoyed Diego's character in season 2 of TUA so here's my thought exploration of what might've happened if Diego was the last of the Hargreeves to be reunited with the family. I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Five teleported into Elliott’s living room in a flash of blue light, eliciting startled reactions from several Hargreeves. Vanya yelped and curled into the couch, while Luther flinched, expression quickly settling into exasperation. Klaus looked unruffled for his part, and Allison was nowhere to be seen. </p>
<p>“Well,” Five announced, eyeing his brothers and sister, “I’ve got good news and bad news.” Luther sighed whilst Klaus perked up.    </p>
<p>“Ooh, ooh, I vote good news first!” Klaus declared, shooting his arm up into the air. Allison appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, towel slung over her shoulder. </p>
<p>“What did you find?” Allison cut straight to the point, leaning into the door frame. </p>
<p>“The good news is, I found our missing brother.” Five paused, gauging his siblings’ reactions. They all looked varying degrees of interested and surprised, Vanya looking the most uncertain with this announcement. </p>
<p>“And the bad news?” Luther asked, waving his hand with a ‘get on with it’ gesture. </p>
<p>“The bad news is he’s locked up tight in a looney bin, something about trying to stop an assassination that hasn’t happened yet.” Klaus made an odd sound, something between a cough and a laugh. When his siblings glanced at him, he made a face and shrugged his shoulders.</p>
<p>“What? Is anyone actually surprised by that?” Klaus asked, gazing down at the bottle of liquor on the coffee table. “That sounds exactly like Diego.”  Allison was looking at the ceiling, praying for strength to deal with her idiot brothers.  Vanya’s perplexed frown grew even more intense.</p>
<p>“Did you see him? How long has he been there?” Allison queried, trying to move past her mounting frustration, and focus on where their missing brother had been.  </p>
<p>“Yup, saw him in the flesh, even had a chat with the guy.” Five smirked, remembering how it had ended, how easy it had been to manipulate Diego into lashing out. “He said he’d been there about two and a half months, after police picked him up for loitering outside <em>Lee Harvey Oswald’s</em> place.” Five drew out Oswald’s name, to emphasize how big of an idiot their brother was. </p>
<p>Allison closed her eyes, bringing a hand to her nose bridge. Luther shook his head, unimpressed but unsurprised. </p>
<p>“Shit.” Klaus stated, recalling all his stays at mental hospitals over the years. He had actually enjoyed those stints, minus the detoxing, but he knew Diego would be losing his mind in the sterile, claustrophobic environment. <em>Pretty ironic, all things considered,</em> he thought, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. </p>
<p>“So how was he, uh, doing?” Luther asked, feeling awkward about showing concern for the brother he was so often in conflict with.</p>
<p>“Pretty normal, for Diego. Sporting a caveman look these days, and he’s even more of a delusional idiot, if that’s even possible.” </p>
<p>“Where is this place?” Luther asked, relief tinging his voice slightly.  </p>
<p>“It’s on the south side of Dallas.” Five replied. “Not far from here, actually.” </p>
<p>Luther considered, then heaved himself up off the couch. The displacement of his weight sent small Vanya sliding into the impression he’d left. She didn’t look bothered by this, too distracted by trying to make sense of what she was hearing. Luther rolled his shoulders, then looked at his siblings with expectation. </p>
<p>“Well?” Luther said, matter-of-factly, “Let’s go get him.” </p>
<p>Five rolled his eyes so hard he could feel his optic nerves straining. </p>
<p>“Stop. Just stop.” He said, holding out an arm in Luther’s direction.  </p>
<p>“Before you try and bulldoze your way in there like King Kong, let’s talk some strategy, shall we?” Luther looked disappointed and perhaps a little offended, but he sat down again with a large thump, narrowly avoiding crushing Vanya who scooted out of his way. Five scratched at an itch on his cheek, impatient and already dreading his siblings’ reaction to this next part. </p>
<p>“When I talked to him, he was super fixated on Kennedy's assassination, surprise, surprise.” Five started, “so I may have had to make a call... for his own safety, of course.” </p>
<p>“<i>Five,</i>” the warning in Allison’s voice was unmistakable, “what did you do?” </p>
<p>Vanya cast a nervous look around the room. She was barely keeping up with this conversation, lacking the necessary context to understand the tension between her siblings. </p>
<p>“I told the staff he was plotting an escape attempt, completely true by the way, and that got him thrown in solitary confinement.” Five said it fast, tearing off the metaphorical bandage. </p>
<p>“Five!” Allison scolded and Luther shouted simultaneously, disbelief and disappointment lacing their voices. </p>
<p>“What the hell man!” Luther followed up, threatening to get up from his spot again. </p>
<p>“I don’t understand, why would you sabotage our brother?” Vanya asked, her concern genuine and innocent.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s pretty cold bro, even for you.” Klaus piped in, sitting up and taking a swig from a flask he summoned from his pocket. Five held up his hands placatingly, having anticipated the reaction. </p>
<p>“Hear me out. Our brother was on the fast track to self-destruction. I needed to put him in time out so I could figure out a better plan, one that doesn’t end with an electric chair or the end of the world.” The explanation created a visible deflation in the group, Luther sinking into his seat, Allison frowning with consideration and Klaus shrugging and falling back against the couch. </p>
<p>“So, what is this better plan?” Allison asked after a moment. “You do have a plan, right? Because the alternatives aren’t looking great.” </p>
<p>“I do, and that’s just what I was getting around to. Alright, so here’s what I’m thinking…” </p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Alright, here's chapter two. Definitely wasn't as easy to write as chapter one. I apologize in advance for the awkward chapter break. I'm still trying to figure out how to segment the chapters and I couldn't find a natural spot to end this one. As always, I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Consciousness came back to Diego in slow, rolling waves. His head was throbbing, his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. </p>
<p>It felt like his whole body had been rolled up like a cigar, and then pressed into a pancake. He didn’t remember anything, where he was, why he was lying on a padded surface. The room he was in was dark, and his bleary eyes struggled to make out any distinguishing features. He started to roll around on the floor, imploring his body to get up. It was uncooperative, strangely numb and heavy. </p>
<p>When he finally managed to work himself onto his knees, the world started to make more sense. He was in a room covered in white padded tiles. His paralyzed arms were not a biological malfunction, he was in a straitjacket. With this information, his mental block started to lift as his meeting with Five flashed through his mind. He groaned and fell sideways against the padded wall. That mother fucker. His fingers started to tingle as blood began to flow back into his arms. He wiggled them in encouragement and used the wall to push himself into a standing position. </p>
<p>The world spun violently, and Diego had to close his eyes and breath through his nose to stop the wave of nausea. They had probably dosed him with ketamine. It would explain the dizziness and the memory issues. He guessed it would take about twelve hours to wear off, but he didn’t have that much time. </p>
<p>If Five was going to play dirty, then so was he. After some awkward stumbling about, Diego got into position and began to ram his left shoulder into the wall. Diego gritted his teeth against the pain as he slammed into the wall again, changing up the angle slightly. There was a loud pop, and he held back a scream as white hot pain seared through his shoulder joint. <strong>Shit!</strong> A stream of obscenities ran through his head while he resisted the urge to pass out. </p>
<p>He took a moment to catch his breath, then began the excruciating process of maneuvering out of the straitjacket. Sweat beaded his forehead and tears ran into his beard as he used the unnatural flexibility of the dislocated joint to slip out of the jacket. </p>
<p>Once the jacket was fully off, Diego let out a strangled laugh that sounded more like a sob. Fuck his goddamn life. His shoulder was burning and the arm was useless, but the show must go on. </p>
<p>He fumbled his functioning arm into the elastic of his pants to grab the pen he nicked off the shrink that morning. Or at least he tried to. At first, he convinced himself that his fingers were too numb to feel the pen. But the more he fished around in his pants, the more the devastating reality set it. They found it. They found the pen and confiscated it before they threw him in here. It was a low blow after what he'd just done to himself. Diego let himself slide to the ground, let the drugs in his system pull his heavy body into the abyss. </p>
<p>He wanted to laugh, he wanted to scream, he wanted to pull his hair out. He’d fucking dislocated his arm for no goddamn reason. When they found him in the morning, or whenever they came through next, they’d have yet another thing to add to their list. He imagined the doctor’s scrawl, <i>'Patient showing further signs of self-harm and delusion.'</i> They’d probably use this as an excuse to extend his isolation indefinitely. And he’d so desperately wanted to use his escape to show up Number Five. Smug little fucker always thought he was ten steps ahead, but this time Diego had almost got him beat. 

Fuck.</p>
<hr/>
<p>So, Five’s plan may not have been entirely thought out. The bare bones were present but relying on his siblings for the execution was a mistake. Well, he should have expected that at least.<br/>

He’d tried to convince Klaus and Vanya that they wouldn’t be needed for this mission. He was pretty sure that Vanya would have agreed if Klaus hadn’t made a big fuss about being left out. So, to appease Klaus and to give Vanya something to do, he assigned them as lookout and driver respectively. He needed Luther and Allison for the actual extraction. Luther was the brute muscle he needed to deal with any threats, and Allison could rumour any staff they encountered into looking the other way. It was pretty simple all told, but they were breaking into a sanatorium, not a military base, so Five didn’t sweat the details. </p>
<p>They left Klaus and Vanya in a parking spot across from the sanatorium. Vanya sat in the driver’s seat, gripping the steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip. She was wildly out of her depth, what with the amnesia and all, but Five thought she was handling things better than anticipated. Klaus was conversing with an invisible presence in the back seat, and Five chose to ignore him altogether.</p>
<p>The front doors of the sanatorium were locked. Five fixed that with a quick teleport inside and unlocked the door for his siblings. They looked uncomfortable, trading shy glances as they both tried to enter at the same time. Luther stepped back, letting Allison go ahead. Five tried and failed to not roll his eyes.  Allison rumoured the security guard at the monitoring desk into taking an impromptu nap. They first hurdle was safely cleared.</p>
<p>“Uh, so where do go from here?” Luther asked, looking around the white halls bathed in flickering, fluorescent lights. </p>
<p>Five responded with exasperation, “Oh I don’t know monkey brain, maybe let’s follow the signs?” Five pointed at the sign directly in front of them, clearly indicating the different wings of the facility. </p>
<p>Luther put on his signature frown and didn’t say anything after that for a while. They walked down the halls in eerie silence, following the signs towards the isolation ward. They encountered three more staff members, two nurses and one security guard. Allison successfully rumoured them all into ignoring their odd group. Five idly wondered where her newfound confidence came from, recalling her refusal to use her power back in 2019. </p>
<p>When they reached the isolation ward, they began checking all the rooms, one by one. They were almost at the end of the hall when Allison made an exclamation of surprise. </p>
<p>“In here! I think I got him!” She called over to her brothers. Five had to stand on his tiptoes to peer into the small windowed slit in the door. Inside was a slumped, shaggy silhouette. There was some sort of clothing piled on the floor next to the figure, who only wore white pajamas. </p>
<p>“Yup,” Five said, popping the ‘p’, “that’s our guy. Just give me one second.” Five disappeared in a blue flash, reappearing on the inside of the white room. He ignored Diego for now, the guy seemed pretty unresponsive. He tried the handle, confirming his suspicion before teleporting back to Luther and Allison. </p>
<p>“It’s locked from both sides, we’re going to have to find the keys, no Luther wai-!” As he spoke, Luther positioned himself, and with one mighty kick, smashed the locked door at the junction of frame and lock. The sound of the door being blown off its hinges was deafening in the otherwise silent ward. There were a couple seconds of shocked silence, except for some groans coming from the prone figure who just had a metal door fall in on him. Then the alarm system started blaring and the lights started flashing. </p>
<p>“Good job Luther!” Five spoke patronizingly, “So much for stealth and subtlety. There probably isn’t a person in the place who didn’t hear that!” Five ran a hand through his hair, wondering how Reginald failed so horribly when teaching the kids impulse control. </p>
<p>“Yeah, well, at least I got the job done quickly! How much time would we have wasted looking around for a random set of keys?” Luther retorted, a mix of guilt and indignation visible in his expression. </p>
<p>Allison ignored her brothers and stepped over the busted door into the room. Diego was trying and failing to lift himself off the floor. His eyes were unfocused and he seemed confused. Well, Allison couldn’t blame him. She rushed over and knelt at his side. </p>
<p>“Diego,” she said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. He immediately hissed at the contact and tried to shrug her off. He managed to pull himself into a sitting position, cradling his left arm awkwardly. He looked up at her, and squinted hard, as if he didn’t recognize her. </p>
<p>“A-a-allisssson?” He speech was slow and slurred. Allison looked at his dilated pupils and realized there were some drugs at work here. </p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s me. I’m so happy to see you. We’re here to break you out.” She gave him an encouraging smile.</p>
<p>“I’m back, brother dearest,” Five stepped in, giving up on talking to Luther, “You do remember our earlier conversation, right?” </p>
<p>“I re-m-muh-member you f-f-fuckin’ m-me over.” Diego flushed, with rage or embarrassment, Allison couldn’t decide. </p>
<p>“Aww, that's sweet, but it was for your own good, idiot. Can you walk?” Five looked unapologetic, and kept trying to look past Luther, who was filling the entire door frame. </p>
<p>Allison watched Diego struggle to his feet, resisting the urge to help him. The dangling arm and the discarded straitjacket seemed to indicate that he’d used one of the riskier techniques they’d learned as kids. Allison picked the straitjacket off the floor and went over to Diego, offering it up to him. </p>
<p>“Your shoulder’s messed up, right?” she asked. The lack of a response was answer enough. “Here, I'll brace it for you.” Diego didn’t stop her, so she quickly used the long sleeves of the straitjacket secure his arm against his torso. </p>
<p>“Hey, sorry to rain on the parade, but there are some weird looking guards heading in our direction.” Luther was looking down the hall, where three pale-haired men were making their way steadily towards them. Five glanced out the door just in time to witness one of the men pull out a revolver and shoot an attendant that had just opened the door in response to the alarm.</p>
<p>“Those are not security guards. Shit, we need to get out of here right now.” Diego started to take some wobbly steps towards the door, looking like a drunken caveman. </p>
<p>“Luther, grab Diego, we're leaving NOW.” Five watched the Commission officers approach. He was pretty sure they hadn’t been spotted yet, but it was only a matter of time. Luther slung Diego’s working arm over his shoulder, hunching down to compensate for the height difference. With that, they siblings took off, Allison in front, Luther half-dragging an unsteady Diego and Five at the rear. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was only a few moments later that all hell broke loose.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's the third chapter! Thank you to everyone who's been leaving such lovely comments! As a first-time poster who's a scaredy cat when it comes to putting anything out in the internet abyss, y'all have been super encouraging! The next updates might be a bit slower, since real life's about to get very busy for the next couple days, but we'll see what happens. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vanya found herself thinking about Sissy and Harlan, as she stared at a moth flitting around the street light next to their car. She had so desperately wanted to find her family a few days ago, and now it felt like she opened Pandora’s box by finding them. Sissy was probably worried sick, and who knows how Harlan was dealing with her sudden absence. The boy did best with structure and stability, and Vanya felt guilty knowing she had disrupted that for him. </p>
<p>She glanced over at Klaus in the passenger seat. He was slouched deep in his seat and was miming a sock puppet with his left hand. When he noticed her looking, he gave her a lazy smile. He rolled his head towards her. </p>
<p>“What’cha thinking about?” He asked her, looking genuinely interested. She liked Klaus, even if she didn’t understand ninety percent of what came out of his mouth. </p>
<p>“Nothing! I mean, I just, well, it’s a lot to take in, you know?” She faded off, feeling lame and inarticulate. </p>
<p>“Do you mean this in particular? Or like this past week in general?” Vanya saw something in his face she didn’t expect, a hint of something like sadness or regret. For a moment, she wondered if his happy-go-lucky demeanor was a front. She couldn’t bear to dwell on the thought long.</p>
<p>“Both,” she replied, “but I guess I’m just feeling overwhelmed by everything. It just doesn’t feel real, you know?”  As she spoke, she found herself looking out the driver’s side window, not wanting to look into Klaus’s big hazel eyes, scared by what she might find there. A white service truck rolled by, going slow as if looking for an address. </p>
<p>“Eh, kind of.” Vanya could hear the shrug in his voice.  “I’ve sort of been detached from reality most of my life, so I guess it’s not hitting me the same way.” She watched the service vehicle pull into a parking spot a little way up the street. </p>
<p>“Oh <strong>shut up</strong>!” Klaus hissed out of nowhere. Vanya jerked her head to look at him in surprise. He’d been having outbursts like this since she first met him yesterday. She wasn’t sure if it was a neurological disorder or something to do with his power, which she had yet to hear about. He seemed absorbed in his own little world, passing glances over his shoulder at the back seat. Vanya looked back there, like she had several times before, to confirm that it really was empty. </p>
<p>“Yeah well,” Klaus responded to the empty back seat, “don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, bud.” Vanya was shocked out of observing the one-sided conversation by van doors slamming. Three strangely pale men armed with -wait, were those assault rifles?! -had just exited the service van and started walking with purpose towards the sanatorium. Vanya’s mouth opened and closed a couple times in shock. She managed to smack Klaus, who was in the middle of another retort. </p>
<p>“What are those guys doing?” She got out, pointing the men out to him with a shaky finger. Klaus leaned forward in his seat, squinting at them.<br/>
The trio got to the doors, and the tallest in the group smashed through the glass frame with zero hesitation, then stepped inside, the others following. </p>
<p>“Well, shit,” Klaus said, a hint of a laugh in his voice, “that doesn’t look good, does it?” Vanya felt panic prickling up from her fingertips. </p>
<p>“What do we-, what do we do?” She asked, “It’s not a coincidence, right?” This time Klaus did laugh, a high-pitched giggle that he quickly muffled behind his fist </p>
<p>“Nope, I’d say not.” He replied, schooling his features into something more serious. </p>
<p>“Do we, should we go in? We need to warn the others!” Klaus reached out and put a steadying hand on her shoulder. </p>
<p>“Vanya? It’s going to be ok.” He looked at her and looked so confident that she believed him. </p>
<p>“I need you to stay here, ok?” He told her, “I have a feeling we’re going to have to make a quick exit so you need to be ready to go.” With that, he was out of the passenger seat and slamming the door closed behind him. Vanya rolled down her window in record speed, cranking hard enough to strain her arm. </p>
<p>“Wait! What are you going to do?” She shouted at him as he started to make his way towards the sanatorium. He turned back towards her and took a couple steps back till he was right outside her window. He leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek. </p>
<p>“Don’t worry about me,” he said softly into her ear. “turns out, I’m really hard to kill!” With that exclamation, he leaned back and gave her a wink, then took off at a comfortable jog. As he disappeared inside the building, leaving Vanya all alone, she found herself missing Sissy and Harlan very, very much. </p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Diego was half-convinced he was dreaming. That, or he had finally cracked and was hallucinating that his family had just kicked in the door to his cell. But the pain in his shoulder felt real, as did Allison’s calming voice and Luther’s bulky silhouette. And that asshole Five, his condescending attitude is what really sealed the deal that this was actually happening. </p>
<p>And his fucking stutter was back. Diego blamed that on the drugs, his words were always uncooperative when he was under the influence of something. It was a large part of the reason he avoided alcohol and drugs like the plague. </p>
<p>He tried not to groan as Luther pulled his good arm over his shoulder. How could his brother be <i>so goddamn big</i>? Diego’s feet could barely touch the ground as they took off, Luther straightening up as soon as they were in the hallway. It had been mere seconds when gunfire erupted behind them. What the fuck was happening? Diego’s vision was doing somersaults as they turned a corner, and he was struggling to keep his feet under him. </p>
<p>“We’re need to move faster! Luther, pick Diego up, he’s slowing us down.” Five’s voice was commanding, and without any hesitation Diego felt Luther try to pull him up. Diego pulled away, not about to let Luther grab him. </p>
<p>“N-n-no way man!” He said, struggling to get out of Luther’s grip. “I’ll k-k-kill you f-fi, first!” </p>
<p>Luther didn’t rise to the bait, but instead encompassed him in a bear hug, his gorilla arms feeling like solid iron. In one solid motion Luther hefted Diego up over his shoulder into a fireman’s carry. New hot pain erupted in Diego’s shoulder at the maneuver and took all the fight out of him as his consciousness fizzled for a bit. When he became aware again, he was flying down a white hallway at frightening speed, bumping along on Luther’s shoulders. </p>
<p>“In here!” Allison shouted, and the world swerved sharply again as the siblings ducked into a maintenance closet and through a doorway that came out into an adjacent hallway.</p>
<p>“Who are those guys?” Luther shouted, extra loud to Diego’s ears, inches away from his face. </p>
<p>“Commission assassins!” Five shouted back, “If I had to guess, they’ve probably been deployed to stop any more meddling with the timeline.” Gunfire started up anew as their pursuers burst out the maintenance closet behind them. Gunshots whizzed past, striking walls and ceiling lights. </p>
<p>“Oh, great!” Allison responded, “I’m glad they waited until just this moment to show up!” Sarcasm laced her voice, deadly as a knife. Someone was getting chewed out for this later. Diego felt fairly confident it wouldn’t be him, at least. </p>
<p>At that moment, there was a loud alarm and an equivalently loud mechanical noise as all the doors in the hallway opened. Seconds later, patients came flooding out, all clad in identical white pajamas. Some were laughing, others were disturbed, shouting and crying.</p>
<p>“Woah, what just happened?” Luther exclaimed, pausing in his tracks. </p>
<p>“Don’t know, but it doesn’t hurt! Keep moving!” Five said, struggling more than the rest to work his way through the adult-sized bodies. It did seem to be doing something, Diego thought, the gunfire going silent as the hall filled with bodies. </p>
<p>They turned another corner and were running past the inner courtyard. Diego’s fuzzy brain recalled sitting on a bench in that courtyard, whittling down twigs with his teeth with the intent of making lockpicks. It was a complete failure, of course, ending with a mouth that tasted like sap and a nurse confiscating all his hard work. <i>Simpler times</i>, Diego thought wistfully. </p>
<p>“Guys, over here!” A familiar voice called. Was that… <i>Klaus</i>? At the end of the hall, a lanky figure waved excitedly, bouncing on their toes. </p>
<p>“Klaus!” Five shouted, “You were supposed to stay in the car, dimwit!” Yup, Klaus. They met Klaus at the end of the hall, and Diego considered playing dead to avoid this particular reunion. </p>
<p>He didn’t. </p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, spare me the lecture! Oh Diego, it’s so good to see you. You’re looking, well, terrible if I’m being honest. Oh, not that I blame you.” His hair was longer, and he smelt like a distillery, but it was still the same old Klaus that Diego remembered. </p>
<p>“G-good to see y-you too, bro.” Diego muttered from his embarrassing spot on Luther’s shoulders, pushing down mushy feelings. </p>
<p>“Klaus, where’s Vanya? Is she with you?” Allison asked, clearly thinking about the implications of Klaus being somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. </p>
<p>“Vanya? No, no, she’s waiting in the car. When we saw the three stooges pull up, I thought you guys might need some back-up. You’re welcome by the way!” Klaus said, puffing himself up a bit, like a bird-of-paradise. <i>Vanya's here too?</i>   Diego was shocked. <i>The whole damn squad's assembled.</i>

</p>
<p>“We don’t have time for this, we’ve got to keep moving!” Five urged, pushing the group along. </p>
<p>“Wait, were you the one who let the patients out?” Luther seemed disbelieving, or perhaps impressed, that Klaus had done something useful for once. </p>
<p>“Well, not exactly, but I met a very nice lady who told me she’d take care of it. And look, she did! She also told me a sneaky way to get out of here, so <i>suivez-moi!</i>” Klaus ducked left at the hallway junction and led them through a door that led to a staircase. </p>
<p>“Who was the lady?” Luther asked as they started to descend the stairs. Diego was starting to feel nauseous with the constant jostling and his shoulder was screaming. He desperately hoped the exit was near. </p>
<p>“Don’t know! Real nice though! Seemed to know what was going down.” They reached the stair landing and Klaus shoved the door open, leading them into a tunnel-like hall lit only with dim fluorescent bulbs. They dashed down the hall, quickly coming up to the first intersection.</p>
<p>“Let’s hypothesize later. Klaus: which way?” Five was breathless with the exertion of running so far. </p>
<p>“Uhhmmm~, let’s see, which was it?” Klaus tilted his head and scrunched his face in consideration. The door at the staircase slammed open. The pale freaks stepped out, looking unfazed by the chase. </p>
<p>“<strong>Klaus!!</strong>” Multiple siblings shouted at once, panic renewed. </p>
<p>“Right! I-I think?” With no time to vent at their brother’s poor memory, the family took off down the right hall, narrowly avoiding a hail of gunfire.</p>
<p>“Where’s this supposed to lead?” Luther asked. Even with Diego on his shoulders, his super strength allowed him to overtake the others, putting him in the front of the pack.</p>
<p>“Staff entrance, supposedly!” Klaus responded, starting to lag behind the others. As they neared the ‘supposed’ exit, Diego felt himself slowly sliding off Luther’s shoulders, gravity and the constant jostling pulling him down. Luther tried to compensate, shifting his grip, but it came too late. Allison started to shout something, but Diego didn't catch it, too busy bracing himself for the fall.</p>
<p>With his eyes scrunched shut, Diego didn't see the fast approaching door frame before his head struck it with incredible force, extinguishing all further thought.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter four is here, sorry for the wait! Good news is that chapter five is already under way and should be up soon. Enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Luther, look out!” Allison shouted, witness to Diego’s descent towards the fast-approaching door frame. She saw Luther try to adjust his grip too late, and Diego’s forehead smashed into the frame with a metallic <strong>thwap!</strong> The effects were instantaneous, Diego’s body rag dolled and fell limply against Luther’s back. Luther managed to catch Diego’s legs before he completely slid off and hoisted him feet first back over his shoulder.</p><p>“Oops!” Luther exclaimed, giving Diego’s dead weight an apologetic pat. </p><p>“Oops?! You just gave our brother a concussion. He's not going to have any brain cells left at this rate!” Allison scowled at Luther, trying to feel Diego's head to make sure his skull wasn't fractured. Other than a fast-rising lump, her brother's thick skull appeared to be intact.</p><p>“Still have time-travelling assassins behind us! <i>Go!</i>” Five was pushing Klaus ahead, who was held up by the bottleneck created by Allison and Luther. A bullet whizzed dangerously close to their heads, and they all crammed their way into the narrow passage, rushing towards the door at the end of the hall in a chaotic jumble of limbs.</p><p>Luther was the first through the door and the first to be greeted by the chill autumn air. They had come out a side entrance into a staff parking lot. Patients were already wandering the facility grounds, looking like ghosts in their white pajamas. It was starting to look like Klaus’s mystery lady had steered them right after all.</p><p>Five took the lead, pushing past the siblings. He took off in the direction of the street, not looking back to see if the kids were following him. They would have to fend for themselves from here on out. The others did follow, ducking and weaving between vehicles and bodies in an attempt to go unnoticed by their pursuers. It may have been working, but no one was going to stop to find out. A familiar vehicle pulled into view on the street ahead.</p><p>“Guys!” Vanya waved frantically from the rolled-down driver’s side window. Her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she’d been crying, and if her siblings had been paying attention, they might have detected the faintest glimmer of white pulsing through her brown irises.</p><p>They weren’t of course, too busy not getting killed to do more than gesture wildly in response. Five was first in, teleporting into the passenger seat. Klaus dove into the rear seats, Allison following closely, albeit with more grace. Luther tore open the back hatch and deposited Diego’s limp frame into the trunk before jumping in himself. The entire vehicle shifted, undercarriage sinking several inches in the rear.</p><p>“Did you get him? Is everyone okay?!” Vanya questioned with a panicked edge in her voice.</p><p>“Go, just go!!” Multiple voiced responded in kind.</p><p>Vanya got the memo and pressed down on the gas pedal, the sudden acceleration jerking everyone back in their seats. Five alone glimpsed the three pale men standing in the light of a streetlamp, watching them leave with weapons held limply at their sides. When they turned the first corner, there was a noticeable release of tension among the siblings. It only took a few moments before they began to talk over each other.</p><p>“Luther, check on Diego. Check for a pulse first, then breathing, okay?” Allison ordered, turning in her seat, motherly instincts kicking into high gear now that the immediate danger had passed.</p><p>“What the hell happened? Someone fill me in!” Vanya pleaded from up front, desperation going unnoticed by the others.</p><p>“He’s got a pulse, it’s kinda slow though. I don’t know, is that normal?” Luther said, feeling the sluggish pulse at Diego’s neck.</p><p>Klaus responded to Vanya in his usual unhelpful manner: “Luther beaned our brother’s brains out. Hey! That was alli-uh, what’s it called again?” He had already pulled a flask out of the car seat and was taking a swig in celebration. <i>Yay to not dying!</i></p><p>“Alliteration!” Five chimed in, eyes trained on the rear-view mirror for any sign of their pursuers.</p><p>“It was an accident!” Luther said sharply, shooting a pointed look at an oblivious Klaus. “Don’t make it sound like it was intentional.”</p><p>“Slow pulse might be due to the sedatives, what about his breathing?” Allison had tuned out the irrelevant parts of the discussion, a skill she had perfected over years of dealing with chatty interviewers and TV hosts . </p><p>“Wait, he’s drugged?” Luther asked, leaning down to check Diego’s breathing.</p><p>“Didn’t you notice how much he was slurring earlier? How slow he was moving?” Allison wasn’t surprised that Luther hadn't noticed; It's not like he was known for being particularly observant.</p><p>“Hmmm, now that you mention it… ah!” Luther suddenly hissed, clutching at the arm he’d been using to lower himself down.</p><p>Allison felt worry flutter through her. She leaned over the seat to see a trickle of blood dripping between Luther’s fingers where he clenched his arm.</p><p>“Luther, you’re bleeding! Did you get shot?” Allison was shocked, she hadn’t noticed anything. She felt a stab of guilt about thinking poorly of Luther’s observation skills. Clearly, she wasn’t much better.</p><p>“It’s just a graze. Hit me in that last hallway. It’s sort of why I lost my grip there at the end.” Luther was sheepish and didn’t make eye contact with Allison.</p><p>“Why didn’t you say anything!” his stoicism annoyed her, but she was more annoyed that she hadn’t noticed his injury sooner. </p><p>“Seemed kinda unimportant, you know, with the getting chased by assassins thing. What was the deal with that anyway?” Luther asked Five, diverting the conversation to get attention off himself.</p><p>“I already told you, those guys were Commission officers. The Commission must’ve put warrants out on us to prevent anymore anomalies appearing in the timeline.” Five adjusted the rear-view mirror, so far there was no sign that the gun-slinging trio was following them.</p><p>“I really need someone to tell me what’s going on, this isn’t making any sense.” Vanya’s voice was weak, feeling drained from the worry of not knowing.</p><p>“Yeah, I get that,” Luther interjected, not hearing Vanya’s quiet grievance from up front, “but why they’d show up now? I’ve been here for two years and this is my first time seeing anything like those guys.” Allison ripped a section of fabric off her skirt and silently gestured at Luther to give her his arm. He did so without complaint, knowing better than to resist. He winced when she started pulling the makeshift tourniquet tight against his wound.</p><p>“Look, I don’t have all the answers right now. Just feel lucky that we got out with our lives, Commission-trained assassins have a very high success rate. Our odds of getting out of that alive were incredibly low.” Five had no illusions that this would be the last time they would see the assassins. The difference was that next time, he would be ready.</p><p>“Hmmm, it’s not really that surprising, is it?” Klaus said thoughtfully, twisting a piece of hair around his finger. “I mean statistically, none of us should be alive right now with all the shit we’ve dealt with so far.”</p><p>“You are all completely insane.” Vanya’s voice was amplified in the sudden quiet. No one responded right away, until Klaus started giggling, shortly followed by Allison letting out a breathy laugh. Even Luther chuckled, and Five found himself with a sardonic smirk on his face. The rest of the ride home was spent in exhausted silence. They had Diego. The family was complete.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter five! When I started this thing, I wasn't sure how far it would go, so I'm happy that I've held onto the writing bug so far. There's a trigger warning for this chapter. I'm going to put it in the notes at the end, for no particular reason other than I've seen other creators do it. So check it out if you have any sensitivities and need to protect yourself. Thanks!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>By the time the Hargreeves family pulled into the alleyway outside of Elliott’s, the nervous energy had dissipated into exhaustion. Even Five, the most serious amongst them, found his eyelids becoming heavy and his attention span waning rapidly. </p><p>Klaus had fallen asleep in the back seat and had to be roused by Allison. Diego had remained unconscious during the whole trip, only uttering a weak moan when Luther gently lifted him out of the trunk. The weary family trudged up the steps into Elliott’s apartment. Luther deposited Diego onto the living room couch before collapsing into a chair of his own. </p><p>Vanya got her first good look at her newfound old brother. She wasn’t particularly surprised by his Latino ethnicity; she had already grasped that all her siblings were adopted. </p><p>He looked rough around the edges with his long wavy hair and ungroomed beard. There was a grey pallor underlying his brown complexion that gave him a zombie-like appearance. She noted the significant lump on his right temple, discolouration already spreading into his hairline. From what she had heard, this last brother was a rather intense individual. She wondered if they would get along, her timid nature with his single-mindedness. She somehow doubted it. </p><p>When she was satisfied with looking, she curled into a spot next to Klaus. Klaus’s eyes were closed again, and only cracked a fraction to acknowledge her presence. </p><p>Allison appeared from the bathroom with a first-aid kit in hand. Elliott was trailing behind her with an impressive bedhead that betrayed his recent sleep. Allison knelt next to Diego and began checking him over. She started by prying his eyelids open and flashing a mini flashlight into them. She hummed thoughtfully as she watched his pupils shrink. The right pupil was more dilated than the left. Allison knew that wasn’t a great sign but struggled to recall if it was uncommon for concussions. </p><p>“Elliott, could you bring me a pair of scissors?” Allison asked, moving her attention to the shoulder. </p><p>“Uh yeah, sure.” Elliott didn’t question her intention, rather intimidated by her no-nonsense demeanour. </p><p>Even under the fabric of his shirt, Diego’s shoulder looked unnatural, bulbous and swollen to the point of pulling the sleeve tight. </p><p>Behind her, Klaus hugged his skinny legs to his chest. He always felt uncomfortable seeing the people he cared about in distress. A couple years ago he might not have cared, but after surviving the Vietnam war and the 2019 apocalypse, losing Dave… it was discomforting. <i>Traumatizing,</i> a voice said in his head. Ben was standing close to Diego, watching over him with fondness and concern. Ben had pestered him on the ride back, pushing him to engage with his siblings. In the end Klaus feigned sleep to avoid the stress and guilt. He was tired, and his heart hurt too much to pretend everything was fine all the time. He closed his eyes again, willing the booze in his system to numb his feelings.</p><p>Five walked over from the kitchen, glass of water in hand. He sat down in a chair, just outside the circle of the living room. He observed his family over the rim of his glass, detached. He was already calculating ways to deal with the Commission officers, using his own Commission background to think up effective countermeasures. </p><p>Elliott returned with scissors, and placed them into Allison’s waiting hand, like a nurse attending a surgeon. Allison didn’t waste time, slicing through the thick canvas of the straitjacket, releasing the arm from the makeshift brace. She then cut from collar down the shoulder seam, revealing the injured shoulder. It was incredibly swollen, and there was a clear misalignment between the scapula and femur head. A dislocation, like she’d assumed. Allison began to prod the shoulder, intending to feel for any broken bones. When she pushed at the place where the scapula pressed tight against the skin, she felt Diego’s whole body shudder. </p><p>Seconds later Diego gasped to life, making a horrible sound that was equal parts groan and shout. The whole family started, even inebriated Klaus. Allison instinctively put a hand on Diego’s chest to prevent him from rising. He opened bleary eyes, forehead scrunched with pain and confusion. </p><p>“Eughhh, I-I’m gooeugh-!” Allison removed her hand and jumped back just in time to escape getting a skirt full of puke. </p><p>Diego had instinctively rolled to vomit over the side of the couch. It was mostly fluid and bile, and it all came out in a single violent heave. The family had a variety of reactions, Klaus winced sympathetically. Luther covered his mouth and looked away, feeling sick at the sight. Vanya had sat up in her seat, wondering what or if she should be doing anything to help. Five looked mildly disgruntled but took a sip of water and seemed to shrug it off. </p><p>Diego rolled back onto the couch and gave out a weak, phlegm-filled groan. Allison carefully stepped around the puke to return to Diego’s side. </p><p>“Hey Diego, it’s me, it’s Allison. We got you out of the sanatorium and we’re safe now, okay? Can you tell me the last thing you remember?” </p><p>Diego squinted at her, his face so scrunched it looked comical. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words that came out of his mouth were so garbled she couldn’t understand any of them. She glanced at Luther and Vanya, to see if they had better luck, but they both shook their heads silently, Luther looking uncomfortable. She turned back to Diego. </p><p>“Sorry honey, I didn’t catch that. Could you try again?” </p><p>Diego’s second attempt was much better. </p><p>“F-feel like shhhhit. W-w-water?” </p><p>“Of course! Vanya, could you…?” Vanya jumped to her feet, eager to help in any way. While she was getting water, Elliott appeared from where he’d been rummaging behind the scenes, with a mop and bucket in hand. </p><p>“May I?” He asked, gesturing at the mess on the floor. Allison looked at him like he was crazy for having to ask. </p><p>“Be my guest.” Elliott started in on the mess, making quick work of it. </p><p>Vanya returned with a glass of water and handed it to Allison. She resisted Diego’s sloppy attempt to take it from her and instead propped his head up with a cushion.  She brought the glass to his lips and he took greedy sips, some water coursing down his chin and soaking into his cut up shirt. She pulled it away before he could choke, ignoring his sounds of protest. </p><p>“You can have more later, first I need you to tell me what you can remember.” </p><p>“W-why?” Even in his drugged, concussed state, Diego still managed to be paranoid of everything and everyone. </p><p>“Because you took a hard blow to the head and because I’m your sister and I’m allowed to be concerned about you.” </p><p>Diego groaned and closed his eyes. Allison wasn’t sure if he was groaning at her or was having a moment. </p><p>“I-, I remuh-member…” Diego faded off, scrunching his brow in concentration or discomfort. </p><p>Five opened his mouth to make a comment but Allison caught his eye before he could speak and glared him into silence. Now was so not the time for snarky comments. </p><p>“I was in iso-isol, isolation. Y-you guys ssshowed up?” He squinted at her for confirmation and she nodded encouragingly. </p><p>“Th-then, I’m-muh n-n-nn, don’t know.” Diego clammed up and Allison knew from his look that he was done talking. She felt bad that Diego of all people struggled with a stutter. He was so stoic and prideful, and she knew the stutter was one of his greatest shames that he went to great lengths to hide. </p><p>“That’s fine, it’s a good start.” She assured him, her attention being drawn to the issue of his dislocated shoulder. If they left it much longer, there could be possible nerve damage in the arm. Which meant… “Luther?” she asked, shooting him a look from where he hunkered in his chair like a gargoyle. </p><p>Luther perked up at her attention.</p><p>“Hmmm? What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling his massive arms onto his lap. </p><p>“Nothing, I’m just going to need your assistance for this next part, I think.” </p><p>“Oh, uh, sure.” He got up and came over to her. He looked down at Diego and waved awkwardly at him. “Hey Diego.” </p><p>Diego looked at him out of one eye and gave him a pained grimace. </p><p>“H-hey.” </p><p>Allison leaned close to Luther and beckoned for him to give her his ear. He leaned down, a faint blush dusting his cheeks at the close contact. </p><p>“We need to set his shoulder.” She said softly, “Do you still remember the technique we learned as kids?” </p><p>“Uh, vaguely. I mean yeah, I remember.” </p><p>“Good, can you help me get him up?” </p><p>He nodded. She turned to Diego.</p><p>“Diego, we need to set your shoulder before there’s permanent damage. It’s not going to be fun, but we need to get you upright.” </p><p>Diego’s eyelids were drooping, and it wasn’t clear that he had understood or even heard what she said. </p><p>“Diego!” she patted his cheek until he made eye contact with her. “We’re going to get you up so we can fix your shoulder, okay?” Allison was careful to enunciate each word. This time he seemed to get it and gave her a faint nod. She glanced at Luther, who moved in and slid an arm behind Diego’s back, and lifted him up with Allison’s guidance. Diego’s head lolled with the movement. Allison and Luther steadied him once he was sitting upright. Diego was starting to look green around the gills again, threatening to lose his biscuits a second time. </p><p>“Allison, catch!” Allison turned at Klaus’s voice just in time to see him fling a wastebasket towards her. She caught it out of the air and shoved it between Diego’s knees. Diego looked miserable, hunched over and sweating. He heaved once, but nothing came up. He spat excess saliva into the bin and wiped his dripping nose with the ripped collar of his shirt. </p><p>“Are you ready?” She asked him, not wanting to rush him but also not wanting to prolong his suffering.</p><p>“Jussh d-do it.” Diego slurred back at her, spitting into the bin again. </p><p>Allison sat down on the couch beside him and braced his right shoulder against her body. Luther sat down on Diego’s left and considered the dislocated joint before taking a hold of the upper arm.<br/>
Allison felt a faint tremor run through Diego’s sweaty frame. She met eyes with Luther who gave her a resolute nod. </p><p>In one quick motion, Luther rotated Diego’s arm and gave a firm shove. There was an unpleasant sound, a wet squelch followed by a sudden pop. </p><p>“Auuggh-!” Diego gave a phlegmy scream and ripped his good arm out of Allison’s grasp to shove his fist into his mouth. His scream became muffled, then faded into pained wheezing. </p><p>The worst of it was over. Luther had successfully relocated the joint, and once the swelling decreased Diego should start to feel better. In the meantime, they should probably get him some pain meds and a proper surface to lay down on. Allison had a feeling that it wouldn’t be difficult to convince Elliott to give up his bed. </p><p>“So, is this experience enough to convince you that your hare-brained scheme to stop Kennedy’s assassination isn’t worth it?” It seemed to Allison that Five had been waiting for the right moment to drop that bomb. It frustrated her, because this clearly wasn’t the time, and the way Five phrased it made it sound that the harrowing experience they had just survived was a punishment he’d schemed up to teach their brother a lesson. </p><p>She opened her mouth to bite back at him but surprisingly Klaus beat her to it. </p><p>“You know, that sounded just like something dear old <i>dad</i> would say.” Klaus almost sounded sober as he said it, “I don’t think that’s something any of us want to aspire to, so maybe let’s not kick others when they’re down.” Five looked shocked, and if Allison were braver, she might even say he looked mortified at the comparison. Either way, he shut his mouth with consternation written over his features.<br/>
The impact of the moment was lost of Diego, who was quickly fading out. Allison hoped he hadn’t heard, and that if he had, his bruised brain would choose not to remember it. </p><p>Luther carried Diego to Elliott’s bed (he offered it without being asked) in a bridal carry, and the size difference between them made it look like a parent putting their child to bed. Allison looked at the rest of her family. Everyone looked like they needed a good night’s rest. The night was half over but that shouldn’t stop them from making use of it. She considered going home to Raymond. He was still upset with her over the use of her power, but she really wanted to patch things up with him before the possible end of the world. She looked at her exhausted family again and decided against it. Raymond could wait. Tonight, her family needed her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Emetophobia warning: Explicit description of vomit and all the unpleasantness associated with that in this chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the delay! I've been hosting family for the past week and have found myself with little to no time to write lately. Here's a Diego POV chapter. :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Diego awoke to soft murmurs and a throbbing head. His eyes were crusted over with sleep, and it took effort to crack them open. He was met with an unfamiliar ceiling, an off-white popcorn stucco laced with spots of moisture damage. This was not his room. This didn’t look the facility he had spent the past three months in. The events of the last twelve hours began to trickle slowly through his mind. The meeting with Five, the sabotage, the isolation, the disastrous rescue. </p>
<p>He started to lift his left arm with the intention of rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, only for the whole arm to ignite on fire. That’s right, the damn dislocation. That one was his fault, and one he hoped he could avoid explaining to his siblings. They already thought he was an idiot, insinuated it often in their past interactions. He just wasn’t sure if he could handle the comments this time around. </p>
<p>Diego tried to haul his ass off of the bed. The operative word being ‘tried’. His body ached in places he didn’t know it could ache, the nexus points being his shoulder and head. He was struck with extreme vertigo as soon as his head was off the pillow. He was forced to take everything in stages. First, he swung his feet over the edge of his bed. Then he used his good arm to push his weight towards the corner of the bed. At that point he was able to prop himself into a sitting position. He remained there for a while, recouping his strength and willing his spinning vision to settle. When he felt more stable, he pushed himself off the bed and onto bare feet. </p>
<p>The first couple steps were shaky and unbalanced, and Diego had to grip the elbow of his bad arm to reduce the strain on the swollen shoulder. He leaned heavily on the door frame when he reached it, taking a couple steadying breaths through his nose. He pushed off the door frame and found himself in a kitchen. He stared at Luther’s back, who was currently hunched over something on the stovetop. It smelt like eggs, slightly burnt. The smell turned Diego’s stomach, and in his distraction he stumbled into the kitchen table, stubbing his toe on a table leg. He grunted in pain, and the table made a horrible scraping sound as it was pushed against linoleum flooring. Diego leaned against the table and cursed the sharp pain radiating up his foot. </p>
<p>Luther was startled out of his cooking project, and turned quickly, spatula still in hand. When he spotted Diego, he abandoned his stovetop post. </p>
<p>“Diego, you’re up! You probably shouldn’t be up. Allison!” Luther hollered for his sister and moved in close, arms held up as if he was ready to catch Diego. Diego recoiled from Luther’s help, desperately wanting to keep his autonomy intact. He was still feeling confused, details of last night a blur in his head. He knew that Luther had carried him at some point, which made him instinctively shy away from a repeat of that. </p>
<p>Allison appeared from the living room, hair in disarray from a night of sleeping rough.</p>
<p>“Diego!” she too rushed to his side. “You should sit down. Here.” Allison pulled a chair out from the table and guided Diego into it. He went willingly, knowing the alternative would be being forced into it. </p>
<p>“Hey.” Allison placed a hand on his cheek and brought his face up so they were making eye contact. He flinched when she touched him. It wasn’t her. It was the past three months of being manhandled, drugged and viewed as sub-human for his perceived mental illness and Mexican heritage. </p>
<p>Allison, for her part, noticed his discomfort and quickly removed her hand. Instead, she pulled up a chair for herself and sat down next to him. Luther loomed uncomfortably over them, until Allison gestured in the direction of the stove, where Luther’s egg scramble was starting to smoke. Luther seemed relieved to have something to do, and quickly got back to pushing the eggs around in the skillet, casting occasional glances over his shoulder. </p>
<p>“How’s the arm feeling?” Allison asked, looking concerned. </p>
<p>“You’ve got your v-voice back.” Diego had just realized, seeing the pale scar across her throat and remembering that the last time he saw her she had been mute, which hadn’t registered when he saw her last night. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” Allison self-consciously traced the scar. “It came back after a few months. It was horribly croaky at first, but now I’ve got most of my previous range back.” </p>
<p>“H-how long?” Diego asked, trying to remember what Five had told them in their brief interaction about their siblings. </p>
<p>“How long what?” Allison didn’t get what he was asking. </p>
<p>“Since you got here.” </p>
<p>“Oh! About two and a half years, I guess.” <i>Fuck,</i> and here Diego thought he had it bad. </p>
<p>“And the others?” He hoped that Allison had been the first, but he had to know. </p>
<p>“As far as I know Klaus was dropped first in 1960,” <i>double fuck,</i> “then me in 1961, Luther came a year later, then I guess you and Vanya in the last couple months, right?” Vanya, that’s right, they’d brought a living bomb into the past with them and then promptly abandoned her after she had just blown up the moon. </p>
<p>“V-Vanya. She’s… has she?”  Diego didn’t know how to phrase it and didn’t trust his mouth to try. </p>
<p>“Vanya? She’s good, well, except for the amnesia.” <i>Amnesia?!</i> “She doesn’t remember anything, and as far as I know she hasn’t used her powers at all.” Diego found he had more questions then when he started. Before he could ask any of them, Klaus waltzed into the kitchen, followed closely by a timid Vanya. </p>
<p>“Bro! You’re up!” Klaus seemed ecstatic to see him. Diego noticed that he had a tight grip on a wine bottle, despite it appearing to be the early hours of the morning. “I thought I heard your dulcet tones. Welcome back to the family! Look, you’re late to the party!”  </p>
<p>Sure enough, aside from Five's absence, they were all here, crammed into a kitchen only meant to hold two people comfortably. Diego furrowed his brow after a particularly vicious throb in his temple. This was… a lot to take in.  Klaus started to move in for a bear hug. Diego closed his eyes and tensed his muscles in anticipation. The hug never came. Diego opened his eyes to see that Klaus had backed off and was now leaning against the kitchen island. What had just happened? </p>
<p>Klaus still had a big smile plastered on his face. Diego wondered how the goof had survived for three years on his own. </p>
<p>“So-? You’re probably feeling pretty shitty, huh? Do you want a drink?” Klaus held out the wine bottle to him. “Should help with the pain.” Later, Diego would blame the head injury for his compromised judgement. Because when Klaus held out the bottle he found himself reaching out with every intention of drinking despite his mantra of avoiding mind-altering substances at all costs. </p>
<p>Luckily, Allison’s judgement saved the day. She slapped his hand away from the bottle and shot a glare at Klaus. </p>
<p>“Klaus!” she hissed, “Stop it! Head injuries and alcohol don’t mix.” </p>
<p>“Aw shit, you’re right. Sorry bro! More for me I guess.” Klaus took another long swig from the bottle. Diego stared at his stinging hand and wondered what he was thinking. His hand looked weird to him. Did fingers usually have three segments? Why did his thumb look so different from the rest of them? </p>
<p>“Diego? Diego!” His attention wandered to Allison, who was snapping her fingers close to his head. “Hey, there you are! You were starting to drift there. I think your head injury is more serious than we thought. You should probably lay down for now.” </p>
<p>Luther finished his skillet breakfast right then, and proudly presented it to the rest of the family. 

"Breakfast's ready!"

The smell once again activated something unpleasant in Diego’s stomach. His mouth flooded with saliva and he swallowed rapidly to deter the oncoming nausea. It seemed to work, a moment later his stomach seemed to settle and the urge to toss his biscuits faded. He needed to get out of the kitchen. </p>
<p>He abruptly stood up, surprising Allison and getting a “Woah!” from Klaus as the stand turned into a lean which required some immediate rebalancing. He stumbled sideways into Klaus who caught him in his lanky arms and turned him around, surprisingly gentle with his grip. </p>
<p>“Hey there tiger, take it easy!” Klaus’s breath smelt sour and sweet, like unripened grapes. Diego wished his sense of smell would take a hike. “Let’s get you to a couch, mister.” Klaus gently steered Diego into the living room. Diego was helpless to resist. He felt detached from his body, a passenger in his flesh. Klaus sat him down on a couch and kindly bundled a bunch of blankets onto his lap, covering up his bare feet.</p>
<p>“You stay here and take it easy, okay?” Klaus pointed at him with the hand still clutched around the neck of the bottle with mock seriousness. “No funny business!” He waited until Diego gave him an lukewarm nod before bustling out into a different room. A moment later Diego heard him pissing like a racehorse. Ah, the bathroom.</p>
<p>Diego rested his eyes and ended up drifting off. When he came to his head felt better, less fuzzy. The room was empty except for Vanya, who sat on the couch across from him reading a newspaper. </p>
<p>Diego shifted himself more upright, grunting at the effort. Vanya looked up from her paper, eyes going wide when she saw he was awake. </p>
<p>“Hey.” Diego grunted at her. “Where’s the others?” It was suspiciously quiet in the apartment suite. </p>
<p>“Oh, uh, Allison and Klaus went out to grab groceries with Elliott. I’m not sure where Five is. He left in the morning before any of us got up. Luther’s on the roof. He said he was keeping an eye out for assassins or something.” </p>
<p>“Oh.” There was awkward silence. Diego wished he had his knives on him. He had no intention of harming Vanya (unless she tried to harm him first) but he always felt safer with a knife in hand. </p>
<p>“Can I get you anything?” Vanya asked. “Like water or something to eat?” At the mention of water, Diego's mouth suddenly felt parched. </p>
<p>“Water’d be great.” He hoped he didn’t sound too eager. Vanya gave a little smile and got up to fill his request. In her brief absence, Diego scoped out the apartment. It was cluttered and messy, and the layout of the floor plan gave Diego the impression that the space hadn't always been an apartment. </p>
<p>Vanya returned with a glass of water and slid it into his good hand. </p>
<p>“Thanks.” Diego downed half the glass in one go, and then placed the glass on the coffee table. Vanya had sat back down on the adjacent couch and was watching him with a contained nervous energy. </p>
<p>“So y-you don’t remember anything, huh?” An awkward conversation starting, but it was his only reference point for her right now.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I just sort of woke up here, in Dallas. I was in the hospital. Apparently I stepped out into traffic and got hit. The lady who hit me, Sissy, felt so bad that she basically adopted me. I’ve been living with her and her family since then.” </p>
<p>“Huh, that’s… actually kinda nice.” Diego imagined Vanya in one of those Norman Rockwell paintings, sitting at a dining table with a bunch of other smiling white people. </p>
<p>“What does that mean?” Vanya laughed, bemusement colouring her expression. </p>
<p>“I mean, after everything that happened before we got dropped here, it’s good to know that you caught a break, sorta. I don’t know.” Diego scratched the back of his head, unsure of himself.</p>
<p>“I was terrified at first.” Vanya’s voice was quiet, thoughtful. “I couldn’t remember anything other than my name. I put ads out in the paper everyday! Just… hoping that someone, anyone, would have a clue about who I was.” Her words spoke of a deeper loneliness, one that Diego resonated with himself. </p>
<p>“Damn, when you put it like that… sorry. You’ve had it rough, I shouldn’t have assumed.” </p>
<p>“It’s okay, I’m mostly over it now. I mean I found you guys and it turns out reality is crazier than fiction!" She paused, glancing up at him. "Hey, can I ask you something?” Her voice had an edge, and Diego knew her question would be loaded. Still...</p>
<p>“Yeah, shoot.” Might as well take the risk. </p>
<p>“Is the future we came from really so terrible? Everyone keeps making references to the apocalypse but are really weird about it and won’t tell me anything. I just want to understand.”</p>
<p>Diego weighed his options heavily. He’d hoped that one of the other siblings had told her about the events that led them to make a risky-ass leap into the past. Clearly they had been avoiding the topic. He was half-inclined to avoid it himself. This version of Vanya was so sweet and innocent, free of their tortured childhood and the betrayal of her father and siblings. Did he really want to be the one to spoil that? Diego decided to compromise. </p>
<p>“It was rough, yeah. We all made a lot of mistakes. We, I, didn’t listen when it was n-needed the most. I have a lot of regrets. I failed the people I cared about the most.” <i>Eudora.</i> “So yeah, you could say it was terrible but I think we were all trying our best, just badly misguided.” It was something that Diego had thought about a lot while he had been locked up, when he hadn't been plotting his escape. </p>
<p>Vanya seemed to soak up his words and Diego suddenly felt self-conscious. He couldn’t remember talking this much to Vanya since… since they were kids, he guessed. </p>
<p>“Thanks,” she finally responded. “That’s more than anyone else has given me.” </p>
<p>“It’s nothing,” Diego was bashful. “The more time you spend with this family, the more you’ll realize that we’re all a bunch of fuckups. You can’t really even blame us, since Dad set up to fail. Still, it’s our job now to try and fuck up less. Think we’re all trying to figure out how.” </p>
<p>“I sort of got that vibe already.” Diego realized Vanya was being cheeky and he felt a rush of fondness for her. <i>That’s new. </i></p>
<p>“Yeah? Well welcome to the family sis. Join our club of fuckups.” </p>
<p>“I think I’m already a member. I screwed up things with Sissy. Badly.” There was a story there, but before Diego could ask, they were rudely interrupted by Five flashing into existence on top of the coffee table. </p>
<p>Diego and Vanya jerked back instinctively, and the motion upset Diego’s shoulder, which started up with pulses of pain. </p>
<p>“Ah, Diego, you’re finally up!” Five had blood on the collar of his uniform. <i>Why is there blood on his uniform?</i> “Good to see you're back with us. We've got to get moving.” Diego glared at him while rubbing his throbbing shoulder. Five was up to something, and Diego had a sinking feeling that it was going to be up to him to find out what.</p>
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